`Pegirl` is a vigorous, strong growing Poinsettia of medium height and large pink flower bracts. It has self-branching traits which make it desirable for branched plant production. `Pegirl` blooms relatively early and the blooming time is very uniform among individual clones. The bract presentation is slightly umbrella shaped, but the plant does not exhibit epinasty after sleeving and shipping.
This new Poinsettia cultivar originated as an induced mutation of `Angelika` (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 5,492) at greenhouses in Skibby, Denmark. It most closely resembles the cultivar `Dorothee`, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,310, but differs in that bract color of `Pegirl` is a lighter pink. `Pegirl` was induced from the variety `Angelika` using 2500 RAD of gamma rays, and was selected from about 200 mutants so produced.
After selection, vegetative reproduction of this plant was accomplished by stem cuttings for further testing purposes. Clones were subjected to successive generations of vegetative propagation which demonstrated that bract coloration and other distinctive characteristics held true from generation to generation.